Robin one shot part 3!

TW: SERIOUS INJURY

It was supposed to be Dick's day off, a rare one at that, but he was never one for a quiet night in. Damian called him around midnight asking if he could cover his shift since something came up. That something, as Dick found out through Bruce when he asked for Damian's route, was his cat getting sick. He didn't retract his answer though. He knew that Damian wouldn't be able to concentrate if he knew one of his beloved pets was ill without him by their side. He'd only get himself hurt. Besides, he had nothing better to do.

So, on his night off, Dick donned his Nightwing suit and flipped about Gotham for a few hours. He was supposed to stop at around three in the morning so there went his hope for a decent night's sleep but Damian could be called in for a favour in the future. The teen could take over in Bludhaven for a bit so he could have a night off sometime else. It might be nice for him to have some independence and a taste of what it was like to handle a city singlehandedly.

He'd gotten through the night with little to show for it. It seemed that everyone heard Nightwing was in town and decided they'd have themselves the night off to plot or whatever criminals did when they weren't committing crimes. He was heading back home, filing the night away as a bust, but was halted by the smell of smoke. It didn't take much to find the source and he quickly made his way over to help.

The fire had set Gotham's sky orange and red, the smoke billowing and settling thick in the air. As the source came into view he realised it was one of the older apartment blocks. If they weren't careful, half the city skyline would go up in flames. He watched as firemen ducked in and out to save anyone they could. A line of ambulances was consistently carting off victims whilst those who thankfully didn't receive injuries were forced to join the police-controlled crowds as their homes went up in flames. Children in their pyjamas wrapped up in coats or silver blankets from the fire crew clung onto their parents in horror, incapable of comprehending just how bad the damage would be.

Ever the hero, he jumped into action.

"Evening folks, where do you want me?" he asked one of the free firefighters.

"Oh thank God, there are people trapped on the higher floors still. Think you can get up there?" He smirked and nodded, already shooting his grappling hook up. His suit was flame-resistant to an extent. He couldn't chill in a fire for hours on end but he could dip in and out to save families without the thing setting alight so he didn't see the job as anything more dangerous than a mugging.

It took some manoeuvring around fires bursting out of windows but Nightwing finally managed to get inside the building and got to work finding people. He was wary of the fire licking the walls and eating away at the occupants' possessions, but he still didn't regard the fire on the same level as his more dangerous antics. It was just a building fire that was probably started by someone frying a little recklessly or sleeping with their candles lit. This was all in a day's work in his opinion. How bad could it get?

Batman heard about the fire over the radio. He didn't think much of it at first since firefighters were already on the scene and chose a robbery at Wayne Labs over it. He may not trust the city's police to do their job but he trusted the firefighters to do as much as they could.